The Snowball Effect
by CelesteFitzgerald
Summary: A Christmas fanfic. Shawn has a secret he's been keeping from Gus, but he's not sure if he can keep it a secret much longer. But if he accidentally reveals it, it could potentially destroy his relationship with Gus. Shus. Slash.


A/N: So, this is my first Psych fanfiction. I'm a huge fan of Shus, and there really aren't enough Shus fics out there, so I am trying to change that. This is a Christmas one-shot. I hope you enjoy it! Reviews are greatly appreciated.

**Warning: This is slash. If you don't like it, don't read it.**

* * *

Gus opened the door to the Psych office, entering quickly so as not to let the cold in. It had been snowing heavily all morning, and by this time the street was coated in a layer of snow a few inches deep; since most of the plow drivers were home celebrating with their families, the streets would be staying that way for a while.

"Shawn, you better have a damn good reason for calling me down here. My car kept getting stuck in the snow, and I need to get back home to my fami—" Gus' speech was cut short as a snowball collided with his face. He angrily brushed the melting pieces of ice to the floor. "Shawn!"

"Dude! You wrecked my perfect snowball. I put so much effort into that!"

"Why the hell did you just throw that at my face?"

"Why not?"

"I already told you, 'why not?' is not a valid answer."

"Why not?"

Gus rolled his eyes. Knowing that Shawn could keep saying that for hours, he changed the subject. "You better clean up that mess."

"Who are you, my mother? It's just a little water, it can't hurt anyone."

"Tell that to the big bruise on my face."

"Aw, does my little Gussy-wussy have a boo-boo?" Shawn said, putting on his best pouting face. "Does he need me to kiss it and make it better?"

"Shawn, stop messing around." But to Gus' horror, Shawn actually appeared to be trying to kiss where the snowball hit his face. Gus instinctively shoved him away. "What the hell, Shawn?"

"Come on, man, I'm just messing with you," Shawn said while turning around to head back to his chair. Maybe he was mistaken, but Gus thought he saw a flicker of hurt flash through Shawn's eyes.

Shawn had just fallen back into the comfort of his chair when Gus reminded him, "Aren't you going to clean this up?"

Shawn sighed lazily. "I just sat down, and you're already right next to it."

"Shawn," Gus insisted, but just then Shawn gave him his puppy-dog eyes. Gus was determined not to give in but—he let out a slight gasp quiet enough for only himself to hear. _It happened again. _That strange feeling, that rush of emotion that he had been getting for the past month every time Shawn gave him that look. He felt his face getting hotter and his breathing quicken for reasons he couldn't understand. He turned away to grab paper towels for the mess so that Shawn wouldn't notice his strange reaction.

Of course, being as observant as he is, Shawn did notice. He had been noticing all month. Even if Gus didn't understand it, Shawn knew exactly what Gus was feeling, since he himself had experienced the same thing a few years back. A month ago, the first time it happened to Gus, Shawn could barely suppress the urge to tell Gus exactly what it was, but he knew Gus would freak out if he hadn't had enough time to figure it out for himself. Even though it was killing Shawn to keep quiet, he knew he had to wait in order to avoid damaging their friendship. But seeing as Shawn had already lost his control a few minutes ago, he didn't think he'd be able to wait much longer.

Shawn shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, but as he watched Gus kneeling there, dabbing at the melted snow, he couldn't help but notice how gently his delicate fingers worked, and couldn't help but imagine those fingers somewhere else...A couple of years ago, Shawn would have slapped himself for thinking this way about his best friend, but now he knew it was useless to resist. Each time he tried to force the thoughts from his mind, they found their way back in, even more powerful than before. Shawn savored the brief moment as he stared at Gus cleaning up the mess, thankful that Gus never looked up and saw him watching.

Gus wadded up the damp paper towels and tossed them in the trash before sitting down at his desk. "Why did you call me here, Shawn?"

"Jeez, what are you so mad about? Is it so wrong for two best buds to spend Christmas together?"

"When I'm supposed to be with my family, yes, it is."

"C'mon, Gus," said Shawn. "I got you a present." He held out a gift that looked like it had been wrapped by a five-year-old.

"Wow, Shawn, it's beautiful," Gus said sarcastically as he began tugging at the excessive amounts of tape.

"Hey, you know how hard heart-shaped boxes are to wrap." Gus paused from unwrapping and looked at Shawn as if he had lost his mind, but his curiosity got the better of him and he tore off the rest of the wrapping paper.

"Ooh, chocolates," said Gus, eagerly opening the box, but his smile dropped when he saw the contents. Well, half of them. He looked up at Shawn, waiting for an explanation.

"Sorry, I got I little hungry last night."

"A_ little_? How 'bout a_ lot_?"

"I've heard it both ways."

Gus rolled his eyes. He picked up one of the chocolates and put it in his mouth. "Oh," he remembered, "I have a pineapple upside-down cake for you in my car."

Shawn's eyes lit up instantly. He jumped up out of his chair to give Gus a hug. "I love you, Gus. I'm gonna go get it!" He grabbed Gus' keys off the desk and ran out of the office.

Gus shook his head, chuckling to himself. Shawn always acted like a little kid whenever he got really excited. For a while Gus found it annoying, but eventually he accepted it as who Shawn was. And he actually found it a little cute, and—Gus almost choked on the chocolate he was eating. Did he honestly just call Shawn _cute_? No, there was no way he just thought that. But then again, it _was_ kind of cute whenever Shawn—_No!_ Gus would not think about this. He and Shawn were friends, they most definitely were not—

Gus stopped breathing when he realized what Shawn had said to him. At first he thought maybe he had heard him wrong, but after going over it again in his head, Gus was sure that the only thing Shawn could have said was "I love you." Gus didn't know why this was such a big deal to him. He and Shawn had casually said "I love you" to each other before, and that was fine; of course friends love each other. He just couldn't understand why this time felt different. Maybe it was because Shawn had hugged him...

As he remembered the hug, Gus felt a tingling sensation all over his skin, similar to the rush he got when Shawn looked at him earlier, but stronger. Just thinking about touching Shawn made his breathing and heartbeat quicken. Gus didn't know what was happening to him. He looked out the window at Shawn for a second, then quickly looked away. _Damn, he's hot,_ he thought. Gus still couldn't believe what he was thinking, but he didn't stop himself this time. As he continued exploring this in his mind, he started putting the pieces together. _Does this mean I'm—it's not possible—but what if it is—could I be—in—in l—_

Outside, Shawn shivered in the cold. In his excitement he had forgotten to grab his coat. He would just grab the cake quickly and get back inside. He unlocked the car door and reached for the cake when—_"Oh, shit!" _Had he really just told Gus..._"Oh, shit,"_ he repeated. He _knew_ he wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut much longer, but he never thought he would mess it up that badly. He tried to calm himself down. _Maybe Gus has already started realizing what he's feeling. Or maybe he didn't notice what I said. I've told him I loved him before...But this is the first time I've meant it...__._Shawn looked into the Psych office. Gus was facing away from him, but he could tell he was upset. _Oh, God. I've ruined our friendship! It's all over!_ Shawn looked down, trying to control himself. He saw the cake. Knowing that if he stayed out there much longer Gus would get even more suspicious, he forced himself to pick up the cake and go back inside.

As Shawn reentered the warm office, he noticed that Gus was avoiding eye contact—or at least he would have noticed, if he hadn't also been avoiding looking at his friend. He cut himself a piece of cake and began eating in silence.

They stayed that way for a few minutes, neither of them wanting to discuss what had happened. But Shawn soon finished off the slice of cake and Gus ate the last chocolate, and they no longer had an excuse to be quiet.

"Th-the cake is really good, Gus."

"Thank you, Shawn."

Their voices were barely above whispers, and they were both nervous. After what felt like an hour, Gus finally worked up the courage to talk.

"Shawn, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Shawn's voice was shaking; he was not fine. Gus looked up at his friend, and Shawn looked back. They stared into each other's eyes, wishing that they really were psychic. As Gus looked at Shawn, he saw sadness filling his eyes, but when he looked closer, Gus saw something else, something he had never seen in Shawn before: he saw fear. Sure, Shawn had been scared before, but never like this. Gus could tell that this fear, this pain was hurting him deeply, tearing him apart. Gus couldn't bear to see Shawn like this. "Shawn, you are not fine at all. What's wrong?"

Shawn looked at the ground. "I can't tell you," he said almost inaudibly.

"Don't you trust me?"

Gus' words made Shawn cringe. "Of course I trust you. I trust you more than anyone in the world, Gus."

"Then why won't you tell me?"

"I—Gus—I want to tell you, I want to tell you so bad, b-but—" Gus thought he saw a tear running down Shawn's cheek—"It'll ruin everything. You'll never forgive me, you'll never talk to me again, and I can't let us fall apart like that."

"Shawn, please!" Gus was practically yelling now. "Whatever it is, it's hurting you a lot, and it will keep hurting you as long as you keep it bottled up inside. Shawn, please tell me!"

Shawn managed to tear his eyes away from the ground. Shawn saw Gus standing a few feet away from him. Gus seemed to be in about as much pain as he was. Shawn never meant for this to happen, he never wanted to hurt Gus.

Gus repeated once more, in a whisper, "Shawn."

Shawn heard all the emotion in that word. He heard the fear, the pain, the sadness, the concern. Gus was worried about him, he cared. He wanted to help him. But there was only one way Gus could help—

Shawn finally snapped. He couldn't hold himself back anymore. He had to let Gus know how he felt, he had to know if they had a chance. His throat was too dry to talk, so Shawn did the only thing he could think of. He walked over to Gus, cupped his face between his hands, and kissed him.

Gus' eyes flew open in shock and his pulse soared. This was _not_ what he thought Shawn would do. As Shawn continued kissing him, he felt another electrifying tingle spread over his body. It felt _good_. He had never felt this way when he kissed a girl. This was different. This was special. This was _right_. Before he realized what he was doing, Gus wrapped his arms around Shawn and started kissing him back. Now Gus was certain of what he had been feeling for the past month. This was _love_. Throughout his whole life, Gus had been trying to find true love. Had he really been so blind that he never realized Shawn was there the whole time? Gus felt Shawn bite down softly on his lip, and soon after he felt Shawn's tongue entering his mouth. Their tongues wrapped around each other. Shawn tasted like pineapple. _I guess I did make a good cake,_ Gus joked to himself.

After a few more minutes, they had to pause for air. They were both smiling. "Wow," they said together.

"Does this make up for me eating half your chocolates?" Shawn asked.

"Yes, Shawn," Gus laughed, running his fingers through his boyfriend's hair.

Shawn's smile became more like a smirk. "How about for accidentally locking your keys in your car?"

"Shawn!"


End file.
